Fig 2: RAD51AP1 protein expression in ovarian cancer (OvCa) patients. A tissue microarray containing 90 unique OvCa patient samples and 10 normal adjacent tissues (NAT) was stained with RAD51AP1 antibody using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Staining intensity values measure the level of RAD51AP1 staining (brown): 0 = 10% stained, 1 = 10–25% stained, 2 = 25–30% stained, 3 = 50–75% stained and 4 = 75%. The cohorts were grouped based on: (a) pathological diagnosis: high grade serous (HGS), low grade serous (LGS), clear cell carcinoma (CCC), mucinous (MUC) OvCa and NAT, (b) lymph node (LN) metastasis compared to ovarian cancer (OvCa), (c) age, and (d) early (I and II) and late (III and IV) stages. The images of the cores that are presented above the plots are representative of the group and were taken at 10× magnification. Presented p-values were obtained using ANOVA and t-Test respectively; * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.001.

Fig 3: Using DAVID, up-regulated genes identified through RAD51AP1 silencing were functionally characterized through identification of their involvement in human diseases, including cancer, endocrine/metabolic-based disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. (a) Through this analysis, it was identified that 96 (out of 122) of these genes were involved in human disease pathways, such as cancer and dysfunction in endocrine/metabolic pathways. The number of genes identified in each specific disease are alongside each pathway; (b) Venn diagram showing the overlap of genes in ovarian cancer (12 genes) and type 2 diabetes (38 genes), demonstrating eight common genes listed on the right side; (c) Venn diagram depicting a seven-gene signature overlap between ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Fig 4: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in response to siRNA RAD51AP1 in SKOV3 OvCa cells. (a) Volcano plot, false discovery rate (FDR) threshold, FDR = 0.05. Horizontal/vertical lines, both log2FC = 1, represent thresholds for up/down-regulated DEGs. Genes with a -log10(p-value) > 2 are presented. Heatmaps displaying the (b) up-regulation and (c) down-regulation of these DEGs in different solid tissues; ovarian tissue highlighted in blue.

Fig 5: RAD51AP1 expression in (a) ovarian cancer, (b) as function of patient age at initial diagnosis (<40 years: n = 8, 41–60 years: n = 212, >60 years: n = 206) and (c) as function of stage (Early (I and II) stage: n = 27, Late (III and IV) stage: n = 399). RAD51AP1 is overexpressed in tumor (both primary (n = 419) and recurrent (n = 8)) compared to normal tissue (n = 88).